I remember being so excited that they were finally going to attempt something of such magnitude. The Dodgers had already been pioneering the Asian market for some time with much success, they currently had Hideo Nomo from Japan and Chan Ho Park from Korea and more were sure to be on the way. The Pirates were appearing to actually be somewhat progressive with something they were doing, but in the end it was as everything else has seemed to have been with them over the last 15 years, a half hearted effort and more PR than actual substance.
On March 2, 1998 the Pirates had a press release stating that they had come to a working agreement with the Hyundai Unicorns of the Korean Baseball organization. In that release, the Pirates stated that they had signed pitchers Ho Bong Go and Chang Hwan Moon to minor league contracts. In addition to the players, the Pirates added Unicorns coach Duk Kyu Yoon to their minor league coaching staff. The Unicorns at the time had been working out in Bradenton since 1993 and this agreement was going to keep that active along with the pair of exhibition games the Pirates had been playing against them during the spring.
Under the terms of this agreement, the Pirates and the Unicorns were going to be exchanging coaching and scouting information. The catalyst for the Pirates Pacific Rim plan was then assistant general manager, John Sirigano, who went on to say -
"This agreement will have mutual benefits for both clubs in all aspects of scouting and player development."
Surprisingly the two players the Pirates had signed were sent to their short season Gulf Coast league team where they did little to impress and thus were both released from their contracts on October 19, 1998. But the story did not end there.
The Pirates were back in Korea looking for more talent and on November 11, 1998 they found their man, Byung Il Kim. The Pirates signed Kim out of Dong-Guk University in Seoul for a reported $350,000 signing bonus, which was probably the signing bonus equivalent of what would have been offered during the 3rd round of the 1998 draft (the Pirates had signed OF Jeremy Harts that year in the 3rd round for $300,000). Even though the bonus was fairly substantial for the Pirates, it was relatively small compared to what Boston had paid out for Korean talent around the same time, about $4 million for Sun-Woo Kim, Seung Song, Tai-In Che, Chul Oh, and Byeong An.
The thought was that Byung Il Kim had an advanced feel for pitching and that the relationship with the Unicorns may have played a role in his signing. Unfortunately for Kim and the Pirates, he did not pitch for them during the 1999 season and was placed on the restricted list. Some thought that this might have been due to visa issues or that he might have been serving some time in the Korean military (which all males in Korea are required to do). Either way, it was thought that he might make his debut for the 2000 season but he was on the disabled list the entire season. Then in the spring of 2001 the Pirates released Kim, having never appeared in a game for them. There was talk that he had developed arm trouble and had some major surgery that eventually ended his career.
The Pirates went on to continue their relationship with the Unicorns for a few more years but never really made any further attempts in the Asian market. Once Bonifay was fired, it was only a matter of time before the Pirates released most of the front office members of Bonifay's staff including assistant GM John Sirigano. By the time Littlefield had taken over, the price for Pacific talent had risen so much that they felt the money was better utilized in other areas of the organization, such as scouting and drafting American players. The Unicorns went on to win a few Korean league titles while they had the relationship with the Pirates, so at least things worked out for one of them.
PLAYERS:
Ho Bong Go RHP 6'2 180
Born: 6/4/75
Signed: 2/28/98- Released 10/13/98
Stats:
| Year | Level | W | L | ERA | G | GS | CG | S | IP | BB | SO |
| 1998 | GCL | 2 | 3 | 4.84 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 11 | 26 |
Chang Hwan Moon RHP 6'3 194
Born: 7/9/75
Signed: 2/28/98- Released 10/13/98
Stats:
| Year | Level | W | L | ERA | G | GS | CG | S | IP | BB | SO |
| 1998 | GCL | 1 | 0 | 4.78 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 10 | 32 |
Byung IL Kim RHP 6'3 215
Born: 3/9/76
Signed: 11/11/98- Released 4/01?
On restricted list 6/16/99-9/99
On DL 6/19/00-8/28/00
Stats: N/A
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2 comments:
patthatt here:
Thanks for the excellent article. I remember the Pirates` agreement with the Korean team well. I couldn`t understand several years ago why they gave up on it, but now we all know who was involved, and the reasons for their short-sighted decision.
A couple of years ago, I sent questions into Pirates` pre-season TV programs and such asking DL when the Bucs were going to "get into the Asian market for baseball talent" etc. DL one time told Ed Eagle, then the Pirates MLB beat reporter, that they were more interested in concentrating on the Latin American talent pool. Well, we all see the results of DL`s great work in that part of the world at present!
The simple fact that you had to ask when they were going to 'get into the Asian market' and Dave Littlefield was the GM speaks volumes. Many teams had been there for years.
I also can only assume by 'concentrating' he meant that he was thinking about the Latin market, not actually doing anything there.
Good points, patthatt.
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